The First Time
by Izzybella
Summary: The first real sparks between Hermione and Ron. Chapter 5 up and it's all done. Review please and let me know what you think!
1. Hermione's Room

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
The day turned a gloomy shade of gray, the clouds hackling with a promised storm. Hermione Granger glanced outside her window and sighed softly. Her new Arithmancy book lay open across her lap, slowly cutting off the circulation to her feet.  
  
A tap at the door startled her, and she lifted her head and watched as Ron entered the bedroom she shared with several other Gryffindor fifth years. He coughed and looked at her, his face paling before turning a slight shade of purple. "Hi, Hermione."  
  
Hermione lowered her gaze back to the book and said, "Hello, Ron. You've never come in here before."  
  
Ron's face purpled darker and his eyes grazed the ground, "Er. Yeah. Well, I thought I'd stop by."  
  
"Where's Harry?" she asked distractedly.  
  
"Oh, he's around somewhere," he prevaricated.  
  
Hermione glanced up sharply, "You two always know where the other is. You're almost as bad as Fred and George." Her voice was a little on the suspicious side.  
  
"Yeah, well." Ron continued to stare at his feet.  
  
Hermione's eyes narrowed as she watched him. "Ron, what's wrong?"  
  
"You visited Bulgaria this summer," he muttered under his breath.  
  
Hermione heard him and smiled widely, "Yes, I did. I had a wonderful time. Viktor sent you and Harry both a hello."  
  
"Er. Okay." Ron lost his tongue.  
  
Hermione shut the book in her lap and gave Ron her full attention, sternly remarking, "Ron, you're never this quiet."  
  
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but when his teeth came down to get the words out, he bit his tongue. "Arghhhh."  
  
"Oh, don't tell me Malfoy tried Silentus on you again?" Hermione asked with extreme exasperation.  
  
Ron hesitated before shaking his head. "No, nothing like that."  
  
Hermione lifted a bushy brow and asked calmly, "Well, then, what's on your mind? I've got loads to do. After all, we do have O.W.L.'s this year, and I couldn't possibly fall behind."  
  
"You'd never fall behind," Ron murmured with a hint of certainty and irritation.  
  
Hermione pinkened before placing her hands atop the Arithmancy book cover. "Ron!"  
  
Ron glared at her for a second, disgusted with the authoritative tone she'd taken. "Hermione, I do not need you to mother me!"  
  
"Well, spit it out already, Ron," she shot back. "I can see something is bothering you, and if you're not going to tell me, then go and tell Harry. I have got to get ahead in Arithmancy so I can focus more on Transfiguration."  
  
"I just came to tell you that I woke up this morning and realized that I think you're. well. pretty." What started as something obnoxiously loud ended very quietly.  
  
Hermione's jaw dropped as she stared at Ron.  
  
"Anyhow, I'd better get back downstairs." Ron turned on his heel and rushed out of the room, shutting the door soundly behind him. 


	2. Invitation to Hogsmeade

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Harry and Ron waited for Hermione to meet them in the Gryffindor common room to head off to eat, but the time Hermione promised to be there came and passed.  
  
Harry glanced at the stairs leading up to the girls' dormitories and shrugged. "I bet she got caught up in Arithmancy again."  
  
"Er. Yeah." Ron's voice was a little hoarse.  
  
Harry turned his head and looked questioningly at Ron, just barely keeping from rolling his eyes, "Are you two fighting again?" He specifically remembered Hermione avoiding them before for that particular reason.  
  
"Er," Ron croaked.  
  
"Not again," Harry muttered bleakly.  
  
Just then, Hermione came racing down the stairs from the girls' dormitories with an apologetic expression plastered to her face, "I'm so sorry! I got so involved in this chapter, and, well, I lost track."  
  
Harry appeared more surprised than Ron at her sudden appearance. Harry whipped around and said to Ron, "I thought you said she was mad at you."  
  
Ron's brows furrowed. "Actually, I didn't say anything. You made that up on your own."  
  
Hermione looked sharply at Harry and asked reasonably, "Why would I be mad at Ron?"  
  
Harry thought it best not to answer that. "Let's go."  
  
They ended up bounding into the Great Hall just in time to grab some food and then head off to their next class.  
  
Professor McGonagall's class sped by while she spent a dominant portion of the time yelling at Neville Longbottom and trying to explain what he was doing wrong. His rabbit had a metal frame from the original picture frame he'd started with.  
  
She kept them until the very last minute before ending class, but finally Professor McGonagall let them go.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione rushed happily out of class, glad to have the rest of the afternoon free. "That was a wonderful lesson, wasn't it?" Hermione asked them with a smile.  
  
Ron glared at her for a moment, "You only thought so because she kept complimenting you on your rabbit. Poor Neville. Every time he tried to reverse the Transfiguration, his picture frame was still alive."  
  
Harry's lips twitched. "Poor picture frame."  
  
Hermione let out a dramatic sigh and said, "Poor rabbit. He was all metal, he couldn't even move."  
  
Ron eyed her before rolling his eyes. "She's going to go on about the rights of rabbits now. I just know she is," he whispered to Harry.  
  
Harry barely kept his mouth straight.  
  
They reached the Fat Lady and Hermione said, "Puddle Plush." The Fat Lady swung her picture over and the three of them climbed into the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"I'm going to go write a letter to Sirius." Harry told them with a great deal of excitement as the idea occurred to him. "I should let him know that things have been relatively calm lately."  
  
Hermione and Ron both nodded and Ron said, "Okay. We'll meet you here in a bit." Harry sped up the stairs to the room where his four-poster bed was and began writing furiously. He wanted to send his Godfather a long letter this time.  
  
Hermione glanced at Ron with narrowed eyes, "And how do you know I'm going to be here later?"  
  
Ron, taken aback, stared at her.  
  
"What if I want to go the library or something?" she asked a little haughtily.  
  
"Then go to the library," Ron responded with wide eyes. He didn't understand where this was going.  
  
Hermione sighed and took a seat at one of the chairs by the fire. The common room was otherwise empty. "Boys."  
  
Ron coughed. "Uh, Hermione, what's gotten under your robes today?"  
  
"Don't you know?" she asked.  
  
"No, I have no idea." But Ron did have a little idea. He moved nervously in place.  
  
"This morning."  
  
"Er. Yeah." The beet red of his face suddenly complimented his hair color.  
  
"Ron, don't you ever say anything else when you're uneasy?" Her voice had gotten a little calmer, but she was no longer looking at him. The fire crackled in its place.  
  
"Er. No." Ron clucked. Feeling ridiculous, he took a deep breath. "Uh, Hermione, I meant it." He floundered for something more to say.  
  
Hermione grinned and gazed back up at him, her bushy brown hair bouncing with her exuberance. "Really?" And then she caught herself, took a steadying breath, and smiled sweetly at him.  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
Pink stained her pretty little face, and for the first time in a long time, she ran out of things to say.  
  
Ron began twittering in place, staring directly at anything that wasn't Hermione. Hesitantly, he asked, "Do you think we could, well, we could share a butterbeer at Hogsmeade this weekend?"  
  
"Yes." Hermione replied softly. " I think we could." A little dreamy spark played on her face and Ron finally looked right into her eyes, and he gasped. They got prettier every time.  
  
Harry bounded back downstairs and onto the scene, but he noticed something was extremely odd about the way his friends were acting. Hermione was sitting in her favorite chair in front of the fire. Ron was standing right beside it.  
  
And their eyes were as connected as his wand had been with. well, anyhow. "What's wrong with you two?"  
  
Ron and Hermione both bounced a foot into the air, their eyes shooting at Harry as if they'd never seen him before. "Oh, nothing," Ron finally answered casually.  
  
Hermione stood up and said, "Why don't you two go to the Owlery together. I've got some studying to get done."  
  
"Okay," Harry said with a grin, glancing down at the letter he'd just finished. "Let's go, Ron."  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, let's go," Ron repeated as he followed Harry's energized form out of the common room. He glanced back only once.  
  
He barely tore his eyes off Hermione's retreating figure before racing to catch up with Harry. "Hey, wait up!" 


	3. Hogsmeade Weekend

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Harry decided not to go to Hogsmeade for the weekend, because Sirius had asked him to stay behind and wait for him in the common room. Harry never missed an opportunity to see his godfather if he could help it.  
  
Taking a seat by the fire, Crookshanks jumped up into his lap and began to purr. Ron and Hermione shared a concerned look before Hermione asked Harry, "Are you sure you don't want to come with us?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure," Harry responded, staring into the fire and waiting expectantly.  
  
Ron glanced at Hermione and his gaze traveled down to her hand. His itched.  
  
Hermione followed his gaze and smiled widely, reaching out her hand. Ron grasped it awkwardly, and they headed off for Hogsmeade together.  
  
Sitting down in town and ordering a mug of butterbeer, Ron watched Hermione as she puffed her bushy brown hair and discussed classes. "And, you know Professor Vector was telling me how.."  
  
Ron was trying hard to concentrate on what she was saying, but it really was rather difficult with her puffing that big, bushy hair. It made him smile just thinking about unique her hair was, just like the rest of her.  
  
"So, Ron, what do you think?" Hermione asked finally.  
  
"Huh?" Ron suddenly became aware that she was asking him a question. And then he stared at her harder. She really is a girl. A pretty girl.  
  
"Ron, were you even listening?" she asked with slightly annoyance, wrinkling her face in her irritation.  
  
"Yeah, of course I was," he muttered defensively. "But I lost you a bit ago." He tapped his fingers on the table and tried to think of something she'd said within the last few minutes. Nothing was really coming to mind beyond the graceful way she kept lifting her hands to her hair.  
  
"When was that?" she asked curiously, slightly pacified by his apparent attempt to seem interested suddenly.  
  
"It doesn't matter," he answered in a wobbly voice, attempting to avoid topic and move on to something he could at least pay some amount of attention to. "Do you think that Fluffy will speak to Harry today?"  
  
The change of topic was a good one, because Hermione got sidetracked by the question and nodded, "Yeah, I think it's been a while since Fluffy saw Harry. He'll do his best to show up."  
  
"Yeah, I hope he does," Ron bumbled, honestly more interested at the moment in the way she lifted the butterbeer to her lips.  
  
"Do you think we should get back soon? I hate leaving Harry all alone," Hermione admitted in her concerned-for-a-friend voice.  
  
"Yeah, we should go back in a bit," Ron agreed, his lips twitching to say more.  
  
"Ron, something's on your mind." Hermione was always perceptive. "I can tell."  
  
"Oh, it's nothing," he bit his lip to keep saying from more.  
  
Hermione frowned at him, "Is it something serious?"  
  
"Oh, no, not at all!" Ron quickly assured her before he bit his lip again. Hermione was smiling. She'd tricked him into admitting something was on his mind at least.  
  
"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asked sweetly, kindly, her face encouraging him to talk to her.  
  
Ron sighed, staring at her for a second before focusing his eyes on the table and asking in an extremely quiet murmur, "Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?'  
  
"That's ages away," Hermione said noncommittally before her eyes widened and she stared at Ron in shock. "Wait, you just asked me on a date?"  
  
"Well, yeah," Ron answered sarcastically, his nervous energy turning foul, because he hadn't as of yet gotten a positive answer.  
  
Hermione's eyes narrowed on him for a moment before she pushed his sarcasm aside and said thoughtfully, "I would love to attend the Yule Ball with you, Ron Weasley."  
  
And Ron let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Great. Well. I guess we should get back and see how Harry's doing."  
  
"Yeah, we should," she agreed, packing up her things and standing up.  
  
Ron held back for a moment, choking on his next thought. But then he slipped his hand down and walked next to her. Finally, he worked up the courage to rub his hand against hers as if on accident, and she turned on him with a smile before holding out her hand again.  
  
They walked together hand-in-hand to Hogwarts. 


	4. Christmas Coming

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
The months between that Hogsmeade weekend and Christmas shortened considerably with all the hoopla concerning Lord Voldemort. Problems here and there and nobody had any real time to themselves between classes and homework and everything else being piled on top of them.  
  
Ron spent an admirable amount of time just staring off into space during classes, and Harry was beginning to think he was losing touch with reality. The problem was Harry couldn't figure out what might be on Ron's mind. Whenever Harry tried to find out, Ron would respond with, "It's nothing Harry. Honestly, I'm paying attention." And then Ron would just float off yet again.  
  
The only thing that really brought Ron's attention back was when Draco Malfoy was in the room and making a comment about someone he cared about. If Draco happened to call Hermione a mudblood, he always found himself staring into the stone floor. Ron managed to receive plenty of detentions that way.  
  
Even Hermione was beginning to become concerned, because she noticed the daydreaming more than anyone else. He did it more in company than anywhere else.  
  
Finding themselves alone just a week before Christmas holiday, Hermione sat down in the Gryffindor common room and asked Ron, "Would you like to play Chess?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
And while the two of them battled out with Wizard Chess, Hermione raised her question. "Ron, you've been acting a bit strangely late. What's wrong?"  
  
"Oh, nothing much," he shrugged and made his next move on the board.  
  
Hermione counter moved and then pursued her original purpose. "Ron, you're not good at hiding these things."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" he asked flippantly. "Then why don't you tell me what's bothering me?"  
  
Hermione looked up sharply. "I didn't mean to offend you. But Harry and I are both worried about you."  
  
Ron shrugged, "The Durmstangs are coming back for the Yule Ball."  
  
"I know, I heard," Hermione said simply, thinking he was trying to change the subject. "But I don't see how that has anything to do with the strange way you've been acting," she ended pointedly.  
  
"You wouldn't," he nearly growled before standing up without finishing the game and running up to his dormitory.  
  
Hermione blinked and watched him leave her blankly, wondering what set him off.  
  
Several hours later, Ron came down stairs again and pulled Hermione aside from a taught with Ginny Weasley. "Sorry, Hermione, my temper got the better of me." The apology tumbled out so quickly she could barely distinguish the words.  
  
Ron was never good at apologizing. Never.  
  
But she accepted it with a graceful nod. "That's all right, Ron. Whenever you feel like talking about what's bothering you."  
  
"I'll let you know. Anyhow, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about." Ron shifted the conversation.  
  
"What's that?" Hermione asked inquisitively.  
  
"Have you talked to Viktor Krum since you visited him in Bulgaria last summer?" Ron sounded disinterested, but his face told another story.  
  
"Not really," Hermione answered suspiciously. "We've sent a few owls back and fourth, but otherwise no. Why do you ask?"  
  
"Oh, nothing really," Ron answered indifferently. "I was just curious. You know, just wanted to know if you two were close or anything."  
  
Hermione's eyes narrowed on him, but then she shrugged it off and went back to Ginny Weasley, apologizing for getting up in the middle of their conversation. Ginny naturally shrugged it off and they continued giggling about something or other. 


	5. Fight and Makeup

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Christmastime filled with presents, love, and friendship. Everything was set in harmony and happiness, and the Great Hall was filled with fabulous decorations for the Yule Ball. Crowds of Hogwarts students mulled around, some dancing, and others mixing with the visiting foreigners.  
  
And then shouts rang out close to the entrance of the Great Hall. "RON! STOP THAT!" Hermione Granger's shrill screech swept entirely through the hall as a scuffle broke out on the dance floor.  
  
Fallen on top of another unseen figure in dress robes, a redheaded boy was turning the person beneath him into a punching bag without any hesitation.  
  
The rest of the Great Hall went silent as people began to crowd around the spectacle. Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and rushed over to see what the excitement was about, but he couldn't get through the forming crowd. "Don't let them be fighting again," Harry murmured to himself, rolling his eyes.  
  
Professor Severus Snape was the first to reach the scene, where he chanted "Separatus Promptu!" The two figures on the ground were immediately pulled apart.  
  
Still punching the air furiously, Ron Weasley was pulled upward and back past Snape. Lying with a bloody nose on the floor was one of the foreign visiting Durmstang students.  
  
Snape lifted a dark brow and asked harshly, "What is going on here, Mr. Weasley?"  
  
Ron, growling at the figure on the floor, finally took a breath and realized he was no longer on top of the other student. Letting out air, he stopped punching nothing and began to control the obvious rage pouring fourth.  
  
"Ron, Viktor just wanted to dance with me!" Hermione squealed, bending down to the other student involved, Viktor Krum, and lifting his head. "All you all right, Viktor?"  
  
"I vill be vine, Herm-own-ninny," Viktor smiled painfully up at her before lifting a hand to his nose and staring at the vivid red-blood dripping down his face.  
  
Snape snapped, "Mr. Krum, I think you should go to the hospital wing and get that injury taken care of immediately."  
  
Krum stood up slowly with Hermione's help but Snape held up a hand before she could walk with Krum to the hospital wing. "You will stay here, Miss Granger."  
  
Krum gave her a longing look before following Professor Snape's command and leaving the Great Hall for the hospital wing.  
  
"Detention for the both of you, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger." Snape was glowering at them. "I will see you both in my office at eight o'clock tomorrow morning." And then he walked away, completely uninterested in any explanation.  
  
Hermione turned bright, tear-filled eyes on Ron and asked severely, "How could you do that, Ron?"  
  
"I asked you to the Yule Ball so that you'd dance with me!" Ron shot back heatedly, turning his head to glare at Viktor Krum's back before he disappeared. "I didn't ask you so that Viktor could dance with you." Ron was looking more and more glum with every word he said.  
  
"But I haven't seen him months!" Hermione was still staring daggers. "Honestly, Ron, it's not like I don't see you every day!" And then she pointed at his tattered new dress robes. "Look what you've done to your new robes, Ron. Did you see what you did to his face?" Her face was still pinkening, everyone else still watching their exchange.  
  
She could hear Malfoy and his companions sniggering.  
  
"He deserved it!" Ron maintained hoarsely, refusing to realize he'd crossed the line.  
  
Hermione burst completely into tears and ran from the Great Hall, shouting behind her, "Ron Weasley, you are insufferable and insensitive, and I never want to set eyes on you again!"  
  
"Hermione!" Ron called after her. "Wait! Wait!" Harry and Ginny had nearly reached Ron just when Ron went zooming out of the Great Hall after his date for the Yule Ball.  
  
Harry sighed and glanced at Ginny, who looked very worried. "I guess we should leave it to them to work it out," he hedged.  
  
"Yeah, I guess we should," Ginny agreed after a moment. "Hermione sounded awfully upset."  
  
Ron tripped over a tattered, hanging piece of his robe in the corridor while chasing Hermione toward Gryffindor Tower. "Hermione, please!" he bellowed pleadingly just as he fell on his face.  
  
Hermione turned around, her hair neatly straightened for the special occasion, and her eyes splotchy and watery and her face all red. "What do you want, Ron Weasley?"  
  
He lifted his head and began to pull himself up off the ground. "I just, well, I didn't like the way he, well, you know, er." Ron stumbled on what he was trying to say and watched her helplessly, the hurt look on her face tearing him to pieces. "It's all my fault," he whispered.  
  
"You're absolutely right there," Hermione agreed, crossing her hands over her chest.  
  
"Well, I guess, I just couldn't, yes, well, I." Ron pulled his robes straight and then took a step closer to her, afraid she was going to bolt again." Hermione, I didn't like the way he looked at you. I was afraid you might look at him the same way."  
  
"Oh, Ron," her face twisted as emotions warred on her face. "What you did was wrong."  
  
"I know," he accepted the verbal mothering without question.  
  
"You were jealous." Hermione said it as much for herself as she did to clarify the situation.  
  
Ron gulped, nodded, and refused to say more.  
  
Hermione took a step closer to him. Ron followed suit, until they were only a few inches apart. Hermione's eyes were still watering and bright, but the sobbing sounds had stopped completely. "Does that mean, well, that you care?" she asked softly, scrunching in fear waiting for the answer.  
  
"Yes," Ron admitted simply, finding it much easier to speak when he was staring directly into those gorgeous wide eyes. He almost felt weightless floating in the reflection of her eyes.  
  
"I care, too," she said simply, relieved to hear that her feelings were returned.  
  
"Do you think that, well, that we might, would you mind terribly if I, well, er, yeah?" Ron's question was lost somewhere in his attempts to voice it.  
  
"Yeah," Hermione whispered with a frantic, panicked, but pleased smile.  
  
Ron reached hesitantly for her face, running a finger down the path of one her drying tear-spills. "I'm sorry, Hermione. Honestly." And then he stepped forward. And Hermione closed her eyes.  
  
Ron bent down just barely and smashed his lips up against hers.  
  
But he didn't pull back right away. At first, it was awkward, but it took only a moment for waves of warmth and intensity and something indescribable to begin moving through him, heating his lips first and then traveling to the rest of his body.  
  
Hermione shivered with the searing yet innocent emotions that stirred within her, and as they found each other's mouths and then tongues, they simply let ago and pulled back breathless.  
  
Their very first kiss. 


End file.
